Modern Love IV: 现代爱 (Modern Love)

I've finally found it. Forget lavalife - I've got a foolproof plan for all you women out there who want to find yourselves a partner for this life and the next: move to China. Since the 1970s, Chinese parents have been allowed only one child. Since a baby boy is by far preferable to a baby girl, as we all know, most of these parents opted for a son. Fast forward to 2007 - we have a grave situation here. Only so many of them can be gay. The proportion of men to women in the young adult population is waaaay off, meaning that just about every girl will have several suitors to choose from. Sound good?

Now in case that doesn't work out, don't hop on that return flight just yet! You have one more chance to pair up - and make a few bucks while you're at it. All you have to do is head over to the Loess Plateau region, where "minghun" (afterlife marriage) is still practiced. According to this tradition, dead bachelors are buried with recently deceased women, who will accompany them in the afterlife. Price tag on a live mail-order bride? $1,840. Price tag on a woman's recently deceased body? $2,390. Having a soulmate for all eternity? Priceless. This looks to be a growing trade - I hear there are lots of bachelors in China.